Man Pleads Not Guilty in ’83 Burbank Slaying

One of two people arrested in recent weeks in connection with a 1983 drug-related slaying in Burbank pleaded not guilty to murder Monday at an arraignment in Burbank Municipal Court, authorities said.

Norman R. Nixon, 50, of San Jose was arrested Saturday at his home on a warrant charging him with the Sept. 27, 1983, killing of 29-year-old Humberto Varela, who was found shot to death in his home in the 1100 block of North Frederic Street.

Clifford Green, 41, of Spokane, Wash., was arrested April 27 and has been charged with murder, Burbank police said. Green is fighting extradition from Washington to Los Angeles.

Authorities said Varela’s slaying remained an unsolved mystery until earlier this year, when an unidentified witness offered information.

“A witness came forward and made life a lot easier for us,” said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Cohen. “It was a witness who knew information about the slaying.”

Though authorities said they have enough evidence to charge the suspects, the exact details of what led to Varela’s death are not known.

“We know there were drugs involved, but we are not sure what happened,” Cohen said. “The investigation is continuing.”

Sgt. Don Goldberg, a spokesman for the Police Department, declined to comment on the motive for the slaying.

It was not known if Nixon and Green were residents of Burbank at the time of the killing, Goldberg said.